You went to Réunion Island ? my stepdad is from there and invited us twice. I loved the little place and long to return there. And yes, Réunion island is a full blown french department as much as Creuse or Landes or Rhones-Alpes. So domestic flight. Blame the old french empire ! And you are lucky not having flown to Nouméa, french Pacific overseas territories. Another domestic flight, except twice as long: almost a full and entire day spent in the plane. I think its the longuest domestic flight in the world !
Then again, French pilots regullarly do the same flight in a Rafale, and no way to go supersonic to cut transit time, because the A330MRTT couldn't catch up...
Yup. For french airlines, servicing french overseas territories can be a very unprofitable headache. Réunion Island and the few french islands nearby are kinda at the bottom of the world, corner of no and where. It's like New Zealand, except poorer, with fewer people, and domestic. And no Australia nearby. Madascar, India, SE-Asia are far, far, far away...
Air France has a public service obligation of flying there, they have no choice. Others airlines - private - tried to compete but its a lose-lose game. Air Austral is doing a good job, but others have thrown the towel.
Also consider the fact that outside Paris, only Lyon and Marseille have direct flights to Saint Denis de la Réunion. And since I live in Bordeaux, I 'm screwed whichever of the three I pick: all three are exactly 600 km away - north, east, south-east. No luck, really. So its TGV or feeder flight. Except feeder flights from Bordeaux to Paris have been nixed, because TGV can do the job with zero carbon emissions (nuclear-electric train, baby.).
Réunion Island youth face a 30% unemployement rate, so they have to exile to metropolitan France. They face expensive flights (1200 euros average), Paris only, by night. And when winter comes in CDG or Orly, they almost drop dead from the bitter cold, poor souls. "Cold" in Réunion island is when température drops below 20°C, which almost never happens. Metropolitan France can easily gets below zero... that's cruel.
Then again, French pilots regullarly do the same flight in a Rafale, and no way to go supersonic to cut transit time, because the A330MRTT couldn't catch up...
Yup. For french airlines, servicing french overseas territories can be a very unprofitable headache. Réunion Island and the few french islands nearby are kinda at the bottom of the world, corner of no and where. It's like New Zealand, except poorer, with fewer people, and domestic. And no Australia nearby. Madascar, India, SE-Asia are far, far, far away...
Air France has a public service obligation of flying there, they have no choice. Others airlines - private - tried to compete but its a lose-lose game. Air Austral is doing a good job, but others have thrown the towel.
Also consider the fact that outside Paris, only Lyon and Marseille have direct flights to Saint Denis de la Réunion. And since I live in Bordeaux, I 'm screwed whichever of the three I pick: all three are exactly 600 km away - north, east, south-east. No luck, really. So its TGV or feeder flight. Except feeder flights from Bordeaux to Paris have been nixed, because TGV can do the job with zero carbon emissions (nuclear-electric train, baby.).
Réunion Island youth face a 30% unemployement rate, so they have to exile to metropolitan France. They face expensive flights (1200 euros average), Paris only, by night. And when winter comes in CDG or Orly, they almost drop dead from the bitter cold, poor souls. "Cold" in Réunion island is when température drops below 20°C, which almost never happens. Metropolitan France can easily gets below zero... that's cruel.
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